So...
Long time no blog.
I haven't exactly been good with this whole blogging thing. I think that when my life gets busy I just forget to do a lot of stuff. Like my laundry. Does anyone else have this problem too?
I'm supposed to be blogging about my cycling team, the EPIC Riders, and my progress with training. Well, if you don't know, I'm biking across Canada this summer. My team's name is the EPIC Riders and we're raising support for this organization called Ratanak International. They help oppressed people in Cambodia.
Cambodia is a country near Thailand in Asia. Let's just say that it's been through some rough times. There was a civil war, and the living conditions are really bad there. What's even worse is the fact that children and young girls are kidnapped by slavers who turn them into prostitutes in brothels. Whether they have no parents, or even if they do, no one has the power to stop these men, because the government is corrupt and weak.
I'm going onto Google right now and I type in "Phnom Penh sex trade". Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. The first article is from the University of Rhode Island. that's a trustworthy source. The article is basically a collection of other quotes about Cambodian sex trafficking. If you look inside the article, which is a little outdated, you can read that approximately 15 000 women are sex slaves in Phnom Penh alone.
15 000?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I thought slavery was abolished like a billion years ago! I can't even justify having one slave! A slave isn't just a slave. A slave is a REAL person. Like you. Or me. Apparently these slaves are usually around 15 to 18 years old! These are highschool-age girls!
Let's take a step back for a moment. The average highschool population around my area is 1500. The Cambridge schools average about 1000, and the K-W schools have double. There are 17 public highschools and 5 Catholic highschools in Waterloo Region. There's also a French highschool that might have 200 students in it, and a Christian highschool with even less students. If you don't like math, don't worry. I'm doing it for you :) So that's 22 secondary schools (not counting the French or Christian) with about 1500 students each.
22 X 1500 = 33 000
Half of the students are girls.
33 000 / 2 = 16 500
Round down to eliminate overcalculation. 15 000
Now, imagine all of the highschool girls in Waterloo Region, and there's about 15 000. Could you believe it if they were all enslaved in brothels around Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge? That's INSANE. Why should we have a place on Earth like that?
I don't know if you believe in God, or Jesus Christ. If you do and you're ignoring this, YOU'RE INSANE. If you don't, you have to believe in some sort of moral system. Let's look at an example. All of us have the capacity to do good things and the capacity to do bad things. Our world is somewhere in between being totally good and totally evil. We can't bow down to our evil desires, becaus then I'm asking the question: Where is the line? Where do we stop? can you imagine a world that is totally evil? I don't want to. Somehow we've come to the conclusion that the line where we stop is somewhere after enslaving 15 000 girls in a single city.
You might say, "Why should I care? Those people are on the other side of the globe. They don't affect me." Don't you care about anyone? Do you have children? Siblings? Parents? Close friends? You don't even want to think about a situation where one of them is enslaved and raped countless times. I know you would do everything in your power and maybe even outside that to stop said situation. The people who are being oppressed are just like your loved ones. Equally human. And human life is valuable. We can't overlook a situation like this.
Are we robots?
Now we come to you as the EPIC Riders and ask, "Can you give anything to stop the inhumanity? Can you even give $5? The price of one trip to Starbucks?" We're giving our talents as cyclists, and the funds that we can, to encourage other people such as yourself to give as well.
I would be surprised if more than one person got to the end of this blog. My brother just walked in and said that I'm guilt-tripping. Whatever, he's argumentative by nature and I don't mind doing a little guilt-tripping. Maybe someone will listen. Oh well, it was worth it anyways ;) I hope you had a great Christmas! Keep going with those New Year's resolutions!
So if you're interested in Ratanak International or EPIC Riders, go to:
epicriders.org
ratanak.org
We're both on the Facebook and Tweeter.
Maybe I am too long-winded
